diff --git a/src/net.h b/src/net.h
--- a/src/net.h
+++ b/src/net.h
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
 static const bool DEFAULT_UPNP = false;
 #endif
 /** The maximum number of peer connections to maintain. */
-static const unsigned int DEFAULT_MAX_PEER_CONNECTIONS = 125;
+static const unsigned int DEFAULT_MAX_PEER_CONNECTIONS = 4094;
 /** The default for -maxuploadtarget. 0 = Unlimited */
 static const uint64_t DEFAULT_MAX_UPLOAD_TARGET = 0;
 /** The default timeframe for -maxuploadtarget. 1 day. */
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@
             "-debugexclude=leveldb",
             "-uacomment=" + self.name,
             "-noprinttoconsole",
+            "-maxconnections=125",
         ]
 
         if use_valgrind: